I started doing some preparations today for the strategic marketing class I teach at Virginia Tech. The fall semester is almost here, so I figured it’s about time to make sure the online access and listserv were ready.

Sadly, I dread this small task because I have to interface with Blackboard. Despite (or maybe because of) Blackboard’s dominance in many universities, the software is completely unusable. Blackboard is quite possibly the worst web application I have used recently.

Why such strong pronouncements? Two main reasons. First, the design and layout look like they haven’t changed in ten years. Crappy icons (hey, ever hear of FamFamFam? how about hiring IconBuffet?) and cryptic menus rule the day with Blackboard.

A good test for usability is a web application should not require lengthly manuals or tutorials in order for a web savvy user to accomplish even the most basic tasks.

An example of this occurred this morning. When a new semester starts, a course is created by Blackboard. In order to actually have students use this new course, it needs to be made “available”. The courses are listed with a status after the title:

Why aren’t these status messages simply a link to activate? That would be simple, easy to implement, and quite intuitive. Instead I started hunting through various menus, before giving up and searching for help.

After searching for entirely too long, I found it takes 10 steps to activate a course. My solution could be implemented with one step – click on a link beside the course. This is quite unbelievable:

Remember that I HAVE to get this set up. Imagine if this scenario was occurring on a web application that did not have captive users. Let’s say I was testing out a new site with a free demo or trial. I guarantee you this experience would have made me leave and never come back.

I know you’ve heard it before, but the usability of your web application is critical. I can’t belabor this point enough especially if you’re trying to build a base of users for your product.

While this is one example of Blackboard’s poor user interface and overall usability, I’m constantly banging my head on my desk while I’m using this application. Any possible reasons why Blackboard may be this unusable? The most obvious is that they don’t have to – at least not now anyway.

A number of companies are working on doing this better, but I don’t think they have much of a chance in the short term. Blackboard does a good job of selling an integrated system to schools. By integrated I mean that Blackboard courses are automatically populated with the names and relevant data for all students in each class. Even for my class of 50+ students, I would not want to enter this data by hand. Imagine a full time professor with multiple freshman classes of 500 students each. See my point?

So the only way to really have a software solution that works in this environment is to sell to the universities, not the individual instructors (or even departments for that matter). A new entrant will need to be decently funded and patient. Unfortunately, Blackboard has a captive audience with no incentive to make significant improvements to their software. Hopefully, some company will see this long term opportunity.

I took the opportunity yesterday to head over to campus. Day one was absolute shock. Day two was horrible grief and sadness. Yesterday, I finally felt that I needed to deal with my mourning and visit campus to see the memorials and pay my respects. I found the overall scene to be surreal and a somewhat different picture than most are seeing on the news.

On a beautiful spring day that would normally have been crowded with students and full of excitement as the semester is drawing to a close, the entire campus was absolutely quiet. Eerie to say the least. Numerous memorials have sprung up on the Drillfield and I grabbed my camera to capture some of the images. I knew that most of my Hokie friends would want to see what I saw. The entire Flickr photo set can be found here.

After sending out the these images last night, I received numerous comments from friends that echoed my feelings exactly.

Thank you for these pictures. These are not the images that are making it to us and I appreciate you sharing.

I have never been so proud to be a Hokie.

One of my initial fears was this tragedy would forever identify Blacksburg and Virginia Tech. Would this wonderful community, town, and campus be permanently marred by this horrific act? After watching the events unfold over the past several days, I’m comforted by the strength and spirit of the entire Hokie family. Anyone who has ever visited Virginia Tech instantly knows that this is a very special place.

When I was a high school senior in Western Pennsylvania, we visited Blacksburg just to check out Virginia Tech. My family was driving back from another trip so we decided to just stop by the school as I had been accepted. I didn’t really think I was coming to Virginia Tech though. I already had accepted early admission to Penn State, had several scholarships, and even paid admission fees to the school. But when I visited Blacksburg and Virginia Tech, despite the day being bleak and rainy, I just knew I had to go to school here. Even then, from day one of my exposure to this university, the friendliness and sense of community was evident.

Almost seventeen years later, after two degrees from Virginia Tech, moving my business to Blacksburg, buying a house here, getting married in the chapel on campus, and now being faculty, this is and has been my home. A core part of my identity is this school and being a Hokie.

So I’m not worried about what anyone’s perceptions may be of Virginia Tech. I know that the world has been given a chance to see what we’re made of and who we are as Hokies. I’m confident these tragic events will only help us become a stronger, more close-knit community. I hope the stories of heroism and courage will rise above one person’s evil acts.

I can honestly say I’ve never been more proud to be a Hokie.

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What a horrible day. I’ve received several inquires today from a couple mainstream media outlets (CBS Evening News, Washington Post) regarding the tragedy that has unfolded today at Virginia Tech. A blog post I wrote on the last shooting that occurred in August 2006 has been getting a lot of traffic today as everyone has been scrambling for news as the events unfolded in Blacksburg.

I was unable to provide any additional information today as luckily I wasn’t on campus. I was working at a client site in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center nearby, as the class I teach is only on Tuesday/Thursday.

For the best news and updates on this situation, visit Planet Blacksburg, a student-run news site. Numerous locals have also been twittering throughout the day. My twitter updates are here.

UPDATE: Roanoke Times breaking news

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The Roanoke Times reports that Google CEO Eric Schmidt has given Virginia Tech a $2 million gift to the College of Engineering. Apparently, Schmidt grew up in Blacksburg and was the son of a professor. The longer I live here, the more successful former residents and alumni I read about.

Schmidt, who received master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, spoke at Tech’s commencement in 1999 at Torgersen’s request. He’s given to Tech before, establishing the Wilson E. Schmidt Endowed Professorship in Economics at the university with a $250,000 gift in honor of his late father in 1999.

The endowed chair will be used by Engineering Dean Richard Benson at his discretion to support students and programs in the college. Benson said in an e-mail Thursday that the gift will allow him to fulfill his vision for the college.

“The idea that Eric Schmidt would think so much of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering, when he did not obtain his degree here, is overwhelming,” he said.